Gasol suffered the injury Tuesday in a win over the Nets, the Lakers’ sixth in their last seven games. He had been dealing with foot pain for much of the season, but was playing through it. Though a tear of the plantar fascia is a difficult injury, Gasol is expected to make a full recovery.

Gasol, who is averaging career lows of 13.4 points and 45.3 percent shooting, was recently moved to the bench by coach Mike D’Antoni, because Gasol was struggling to fit into D’Antoni’s offensive system. He has also been the subject of frequent trade rumors.

Gasol’s health became a much bigger issue as the shoulder injury to center Dwight Howard has persisted. That’s been the subject of a very public debate—to put it mildly—between Kobe Bryant and Howard, as to

whether Howard, who might require surgery, should be playing through the shoulder problem.

After the Nets win, when it was clear that Gasol would be out for a while, Bryant was blunt in saying that Howard should be on the floor. Howard shot back by saying Bryant is “not a doctor.” The whole kerfuffle will be laid to rest soon. Before Thursday’s game against the Celtics, coach Mike D’Antoni said he did not know whether Howard would play here, but Howard participated in shootaround this morning and indicated before the game that he’d play.